US election: Downing Street refuses to say if Boris Johnson thinks all votes should be counted

Spokesman says UK has confidence in ‘checks and balances of the US system’

Downing Street today refused to say whether Boris Johnson believes that all votes in the US election should be counted.

In an effort to avoid the prime minister being dragged into controversy over the presidential poll, a No 10 spokesman would say only that the electoral processes used were “a matter for the relevant US authorities”.

And Mr Johnson himself declined to give any comment on the battle for the White House, saying only that he expected to work “very, very closely” with whoever becomes president.

His comments came as Donald Trump continued his legal effort to stop mail-in votes being counted in a number of US states, in a last-ditch attempt to prevent Joe Biden from being declared the next president.

Under repeated questioning from reporters at a daily press briefing, the No 10 spokesman declined to make any comment on Mr Trump’s incendiary and unsupported claims of fraud in the presidential poll.

But he said that the UK government remains confident in the electoral systems used in the US.

Asked whether British representatives had seen any evidence of malpractice in the elections, the No 10 spokesman said: “We have confidence in the checks and balances of the US system.

“But the count is ongoing and you obviously wouldn’t expect us to speculate on the outcome.”

The spokesman declined to reveal what Mr Johnson thought of Mr Trump’s rambling 17-minute speech on Thursday night, in which he wrongly claimed to have won the election on the basis of “legal” votes and made the baseless allegation that ballots still being counted were “illegal”.

“As the foreign secretary has said, it is important that the US electoral process is given time to reach a conclusion,” said the No 10 spokesman. “We are of course watching closely, but the count is ongoing and you wouldn’t expect us to comment at this stage.”

The spokesman was asked whether the prime minister wanted to see all votes counted, whether failure to do so would go against America’s commitment to democracy and whether as a matter of priniciple he would expect all votes in any election to be counted.

He repeatedly replied: “The electoral process is a matter for the relevant US authorities and we have confidence in the checks and balances of the US system.”

Speaking during a visit to the East Midlands later in the day, Mr Johnson said: "If I were a voter in America, I don’t think I would want anybody in another government commenting on our election in our country. 

"I think while the votes are being counted we should we should wait and see. I have every confidence in the checks and balances of the American system.

"The prime minister of the United Kingdom is always going to work very, very closely with whoever is the president of the United States, and that's going to be the case whatever the outcome of this election.

"I don't think at this stage you'd expect any foreign international leader to comment on the democratic processes of a very friendly country. That's just not what we do."